Please be my partner.

Mellen nodded in agreement.

With Chang Liyang's assurance, Mellen felt more at ease.

After leaving the Ancestral Hall, Mellen headed to the sect's treasure hall. He no longer needed ordinary treasures, but he still had to make up for the Enlightenment Leaves he had promised Little Red Lotus and Forest Wolf.

Although the Enlightenment Tree Leaf is very valuable, Mellen is no longer the penniless person he was when he ascended to True Immortal. Now that he possesses the Blood Sea Realm, this expense is just a drop in the ocean.

It's worth mentioning that the connection between the Enlightenment Tree and Mellen was automatically severed the moment Mellen ascended to become a True Immortal.

Fortunately, advancing to the True Immortal realm is a comprehensive sublimation, with significant improvements in life, soul, foundation, essence, and even the ethereal comprehension.

Of course, it still can't compare to the "cheat code" of the Enlightenment Ancient Tree.

Sometimes, Mellen really wanted to ask the Ancient Tree of Enlightenment for a branch so that he could use the Eternal Tree's parasitic replication talent to see if he could gain a stronger state of enlightenment.

Unfortunately, even though Mellen has now become a true immortal, he can only dream about it.

Unless Melen can obtain a treasure that even the Enlightenment Tree covets, it is unlikely that such a deal can be made.

Before the promotion banquet began, Mellen hosted a small banquet at the Cloud Court, inviting some old friends to catch up.

The result did not surprise Mellen; most of them changed their attitudes because of Mellen's current status and position, and only a very few were able to maintain their original intentions.

Mellen did not say much about this.

Xiao Yanlong Zizai did not come this time; it is said that he went to travel to a place beyond the heavens.

Next, it seemed that news of Mellen's return to the Golden Jade Immortal Sect spread, and every day young talents from different immortal sects came to visit. They were all quite friendly, and Mellen naturally wouldn't retaliate against those who were all smiles.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to focus on cultivation before and after the promotion banquet, Mellen simply opened the doors wide, holding a small banquet every day and a large banquet every three days, thus becoming familiar with many guests in advance.

Naturally, the Golden Jade Immortal Sect's own True Immortal brothers and sisters, as well as their friends, were present during this time.

The day of the promotion banquet was naturally a grand affair. The entire Golden Jade Immortal Sect was decorated with colorful decorations to welcome guests. Guests and disciples below the True Immortal level were accommodated in a magnificent setting, while guests above the True Immortal level enjoyed themselves in a specially designated space.

All kinds of rare and precious delicacies are available in unlimited quantities, including specialties from the Blood Sea Realm.

The promotion banquet lasted for a whole month, and included discussions and debates, as well as disciple duels.

To be honest, for a dominant immortal sect like the Golden Jade Immortal Sect, the promotion banquet for true immortal disciples already has a standard procedure; it's just a matter of scale.

After the promotion banquet, everyone was happy. Once the second- and third-rate sects left one after another, it was time to get down to business.

In the Floating Clouds Courtyard, Mellen and Jun Tianqi sat facing each other, drinking tea and chatting idly.

Jun Tianqi said, "This matter is indeed a bit troublesome. Qingyun Sect, Tianyuan Palace, Zixiao Palace, and Wanxian Pavilion are all interested in what is being nurtured in the Blood Sea Realm."

Mellen took a sip of tea and said nonchalantly, "So what if they're interested? I can't just hand over my treasure because they're interested, can I?"

Jun Tianqi laughed and said, "Of course not, but this matter isn't that simple either..."

"The treasures nurtured in the Blood Sea Realm are a secret to many people, even I didn't know them before, but for those powerful beings, it's something they've known for a long time."

"Among the three top immortal sects, Qingyun Sect, Tianyuan Palace, and Zixiao Palace, there are more than one Dao Lord who are plotting for this treasure. These powerful figures all have their own calculations and have invested a lot over the years. Now that you have taken the fruit out of thin air, they will naturally not be willing to accept it."

Mellen remained noncommittal, then asked, "What about the Myriad Immortals Pavilion? Is it in a similar situation?"

Jun Tianqi said, "The Myriad Immortals Pavilion is somewhat special. It is said that behind the Myriad Immortals Pavilion is a Daoist Venerable from a side sect, so it has gathered many Daoist Lords and immortal sect forces besides rogue cultivators..."

At this point, Jun Tianqi couldn't help but complain, "I think that despite the power of the Myriad Immortals Pavilion, most of the Dao Lords and True Immortals within it are probably just disguises of top-tier immortal sects. They all have their own purposes for joining the Myriad Immortals Pavilion."

Mellen nodded slightly. He was familiar with the water plant adulterating alcohol.

"But no matter what, with the prestige of the Myriad Immortals Pavilion, it certainly deserves the position of the overlord of the Immortal Realm."

"The Wanxian Pavilion claims that several of their Dao Lords collaborated with Styx to cultivate the Blood Sea Treasure. Now that Styx has been suppressed by Junior Brother, the blame naturally falls on Junior Brother."

Mellen almost laughed in exasperation, saying irritably, "So you think whatever they say goes? Then I could say they owe the Styx dozens of innate spiritual treasures, and now that I'm the creditor, should I go after them for the debt?!"

Jun Tianqi laughed and said, "Junior brother, calm down. Everyone knows that what they said is just an excuse. Even if it were true, the debt would be settled after the person dies. The sect will never let them take advantage of that."

Mellen twirled the white jade porcelain cup in his hand, the steam from the tea rising and dissipating into the air, creating a series of landscape paintings. Mellen flicked his finger, scattering the paintings, then drank the tea in one gulp and laughed, "Tell me, what exactly do they want?"

Jun Tianqi said, "Two options..."

"The treasure in the sea of ​​blood is currently deficient in its innate nature, so it has been unable to be fully formed. The other four factions suggest that the five factions join forces and invest together to make the treasure fully formed."

"From now on, this treasure will be shared by the five sects. However, since it originally belonged to our junior brother, it can be placed in the Blood Sea Realm and managed by him."

"Ha!" Mellen scoffed, "What a clever scheme! Placing it under my control in the Blood Sea Realm? So, if they want to use the treasures for cultivation, will they have to come to the Blood Sea every time? And since it's shared by the five factions, will I have to give them a portion of the Blood Sea's authority?!"

"Taking the treasure wasn't enough for them, they also want to lay their hands on my Blood Sea? They're practically throwing abacus beads at my face!"

The Twelfth Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus is the true core of the Blood Sea. The authority of the Blood Sea can promote the refining of the Twelfth Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus, and correspondingly, refining the Twelfth Grade Karmic Fire Red Lotus can also strengthen the authority of the Blood Sea to a certain extent.

Murren would be a fool to share his core interests.

Mellen waved his hand and said, "Next! Next!"

Jun Tianqi shrugged and said, "The four factions mean that if you don't agree to the first option, then according to the rules of the Immortal Realm, the winner will be decided by strength. Each of the four factions will send a True Immortal to challenge you. If you can defeat them, then everything before will be wiped clean. Otherwise, you will have to accept the first option, and the conditions will remain the same."

Mellen blinked, then asked in confusion, "Me, using what belongs to me as a wager, to let them challenge me?"

Jun Tianqi said, "The stakes are not only the treasure in the Blood Sea, but each of the four sects must also contribute a Primordial Spiritual Treasure. Regardless of whether you win or lose this challenge, all four Primordial Spiritual Treasures will be yours as compensation."

Mellen nodded and said, "I see. I thought the sect had abandoned me."

Jun Tianqi laughed and said, "How could that be? Even if it really becomes a shared territory of the five sects in the end, the Blood Sea Realm will only belong to you. The Golden Jade Immortal Sect will not allow the other four sects to act recklessly."

Mellen nodded slightly, seemingly believing what he said.

"Tell me," Mellen asked, "who are the characters that the four factions sent?"

When Jun Tianqi arrived, he had already inquired about everything and said in great detail, "The Qingyun Sect sent out the White Rainbow Sword Immortal Shen Chuyi. He is quite an extraordinary fellow. He was active even earlier than me. It is said that he once ranked among the top ten on the Immortal Ranking, but his ranking slipped because he did not challenge for the ranking for a long time."

"The one sent by Tianyuan Palace is the unruly child You Tianyi. It is said that he is a person who likes to travel around. Whether before or after becoming a true immortal, he spends most of his time wandering in the vast world, so his reputation is not well known in the immortal realm."

"The Zixiao Palace sent out True Person Xiaoyun from Yuanhua. This person has an extremely introverted personality and seems to mainly cultivate in seclusion, rarely venturing out of the Immortal Realm. This also shows his amazing talent."

"The Wanxian Pavilion sent Xiang Yangui. He doesn't have any particular title or anything. All that's known is that he is a disciple of Zhuang Leshui, the Nine Swords True Man. This Nine Swords True Man is one of the Dao Lords who claims to be cooperating with the Styx River."

Jun Tianqi said solemnly, "These four True Immortals are no ordinary people; they have probably all reached the peak of the True Immortal realm."

Mellen gave a wry smile and said, "The sect thinks too highly of me, finding me an opponent of this caliber?"

Jun Tianqi laughed and said, "Junior Brother can suppress the River Styx, who would dare to underestimate you?!"

"Moreover, the journey to the Blood Sea was not solely due to Junior Brother's efforts. As your elder brother, I am not very talented, but I would also like to meet the prodigies of these four sects and test the sharpness of my twin swords!"

Chapter 722 The Bet and the Joint Trial

Mellen rubbed his temples and asked, "What kind of arrangement is this? Four factions are sending four people, and we only have two? What, a war of attrition?!"

Jun Tianqi smiled and shook his head, saying, "Of course not, where would the most basic fairness be?"

"I don't know the specifics of how to do it, but don't worry, junior brother. With the Golden Jade Immortal Sect around, the competition rules will definitely not let us suffer any losses."

Mellen nodded slightly and continued to drink tea and chat with Jun Tianqi.

Several days later, Mellen finally learned how the contest bet would be carried out, but the scene was much larger than he had imagined.

Golden Jade Immortal Sect, a floating island.

Mellen and Jun Tianqi, along with several True Immortals from the Golden Jade Immortal Sect, flew to the floating island. Surrounding them were streaks of light, all of whom were True Immortals from first-rate sects in the Immortal Realm.

The floating island was composed of clouds that formed a ring. Mellen and his group arrived at the location belonging to the Golden Jade Immortal Sect.

At the very front of the Golden Jade Immortal Sect's position, three blurry figures were already seated cross-legged. Mellen knew that the one in the lead was Chang Liyang, and the other two were also Dao Lords of the Golden Jade Immortal Sect, Yuan Yasong and Nan Yilan.

It is worth mentioning that the two Dao Lords were traveling abroad, and they only rushed back after learning about Mellen's news, just to see him.

Of course, Mellen has reservations about this claim, because he was not summoned or anything like that during the entire promotion banquet.

Mellen scanned the floating island and roughly counted that there were seventeen forces involved. These seventeen forces were all first-rate in the Immortal Realm, and each force had at least one Dao Lord in charge.

Soon, everyone had arrived, marking the start of this joint trial.

That's right, a joint trial!

It was a rare opportunity for so many powerful sects in the Immortal Realm to gather together, so a Dao Lord proposed to take this opportunity to hold a joint trial to see the strength of the True Immortals of each sect, which could also be considered a way to showcase the strength of the sects.

The wager between the five major sects—Golden Jade Immortal Sect, Azure Cloud Sect, Heavenly Origin Palace, Purple Cloud Palace, and Myriad Immortals Pavilion—was also included in this joint trial.

The joint trial takes place in a subsidiary world of the Immortal Realm called Azure Moon. Although Azure Moon Realm also has a cultivation system, its power ceiling is not high, at most reaching the level of an ordinary immortal in the Immortal Realm.

Now, that world has been invaded by otherworldly demons, and there exists a king of otherworldly demons within it.

The True Immortals, including Mellen, need to enter this world to eliminate the Otherworldly Demons and their King.

Of course, things are not that simple. The King of the Otherworldly Demons has an extraordinary background and possesses extremely miraculous abilities, even managing to escape from the hands of a Dao Lord.

In fact, this Demon King was defeated by the two Dao Lords working together before escaping into the Azure Moon Realm and hiding there.

Because the Demon King's methods of concealment are extremely unique, even a Dao Lord cannot directly discern the clues.

Therefore, there are only two ways to find the hidden Demon King: one is to spend a lot of time and energy investigating the Azure Moon Realm, and the other is to destroy the Azure Moon Realm directly.

As a Dao Lord, one would naturally not choose the first method, which would be thankless and arduous. The second method, on the other hand, would inevitably cause widespread suffering. Although some Dao Lords do not care, there have been many people from the Cangyue Realm who have ascended to the Immortal Realm over the countless years, so one must still consider the impact.

Thus, the basis for this joint trial was laid. After all, if the Demon King were to enter the Immortal Realm, things would become even more complicated.

To avoid alerting the enemy, the True Immortals, including Mellen, will have their cultivation sealed by immortal magic after entering the Azure Moon Realm.

Of course, the seal is only temporary. Unlike other outer heavens, the Azure Moon Realm is an appendage of the Immortal Realm, a legitimate lower-level extension of the Immortal Realm. Therefore, after these True Immortals enter the Azure Moon Realm, they only need three to five months, or at most a year and a half, to raise their cultivation to the pinnacle of the Azure Moon Realm.

The reason for sealing one's cultivation upon entry is simply to avoid disturbing the Demon King, who has entered a dormant state.

Once they find the King of the Otherworldly Demons, this joint trial will end, and the seventeen sects will offer generous rewards based on their performance.

For Mellen, this was the end of his bet: if their ranking surpassed that of the four sects, they would win; otherwise, they would lose.

As for this ranking, all Dao Lords will give a fair evaluation.

After understanding the rules of the joint trial, Jun Tianqi first whispered to the other True Immortals of the Golden Jade Immortal Sect for a while before running over to Melon and saying, "Junior Brother, after entering the Azure Moon Realm, you should do your best to find the whereabouts of the Demon King. I have already arranged with the other fellow disciples that they will regularly pass on the information they collect to you."

"As for the disciples of those four sects, I will do my best to delay their progress and buy you time."

Mellen looked at Jun Tianqi and the other True Immortal senior brothers who were looking over, and solemnly bowed: "Thank you for your help, senior brothers!"

Jun Tianqi smiled and patted Mellen on the shoulder, while the other True Immortal senior brothers waved their hands to indicate that it was alright.

Once the rules of the joint trial were explained, the two Dao Lords stood up and, with a wave of their hands, bursts of light bloomed, creating a huge teleportation portal on the floating island.

Without hesitation, the True Immortals who chose to join the joint trial transformed into streaks of light and entered the teleportation portal.

During this process, Murren also saw the disciples from the four factions who were competing with him...

Shen Chuyi, the White Rainbow Sword Immortal of Qingyun Sect, was handsome and valiant, with sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. Dressed in white, he transformed into a streak of azure sword light and flew past. The azure sword light was pure and had an unparalleled sharpness that could cut through anything.

The carefree child You Tianyi of Tianyuan Palace looked like a giant doll, bald, bare-chested, and adorably clumsy, lying on a large gourd and leisurely floating towards the teleportation portal.

The True Man Xiaoyun of Zixiao Palace, who was from Yuanhua, was dressed as an ordinary Taoist priest. He had a handsome face and his hair was tied up with a black jade hairpin. He floated around on a cloud. As if sensing Mellen's gaze, he turned his head and smiled and nodded at Mellen.

Xiang Yangui of Wanxian Pavilion has a somewhat cold and sinister demeanor, and carries a huge sword box on his back, making him look rather strange.

Besides these four, there were several other immortals who also gave Mellen an extraordinary aura, but Mellen didn't have time to take a closer look.

Upon entering the portal, Mellen could feel invisible forces pressing down on him, sealing off his own power. This feeling was somewhat similar to when he entered the Other Shore Beyond Heaven, only much milder.

Once the power was completely sealed, Mellen's consciousness also fell into a brief state of unconsciousness.

When he woke up again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling, and then a stream of information flooded into his mind.

After receiving this information, Mellen showed a look of surprise. To his surprise, after entering the Azure Moon Realm, he actually had a legitimate native identity and was not an 'illegal resident' as he had previously thought.

However, since it was a Dao Lord's method, it wasn't particularly surprising.

Mellen's current identity is also 'Mellen', and he is a member of a small cultivation family under the jurisdiction of the Jade Purity Sect.

The first thing Mellen needs to do after entering the Azure Moon Realm is, of course, to restore her own cultivation level. The simplest way to restore her cultivation level is to obtain the cultivation techniques of the current world as a reference, and the higher the level of the cultivation techniques, the better.

The cultivation realms in the Azure Moon Realm are different from those in the Immortal Realm. They are Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul, Deity Transformation, and Void Refining. Once you reach the Void Refining Realm, you can safely ascend to the Immortal Realm.

However, due to the resource limitations of the Cangyue Realm itself, it is usually difficult to advance further after reaching the Nascent Soul stage. However, this is not a dead end. If Nascent Soul experts can collect and craft some suitable treasures, they can also cross the void and ascend to the Immortal Realm.

Mellen's family's cultivation technique is the "Wave-Treading Technique," a fairly common cultivation method. It can only be cultivated up to the Foundation Establishment stage. Its only distinctive feature is that the magical power cultivated by the "Wave-Treading Technique" is more profound than that of other cultivation methods at the same level.

Yes, really only a few.

Even so, the [Wave-Treading Technique] is one of the Mei family's top secrets.

With just a little deduction, Mellen corrected dozens of errors and shortcomings in the [Wave-Treading Technique], increasing the cultivated magic power by more than twenty times and raising its purity by several levels.

However, after only two or three hours of cultivation, Mellen frowned, sensing the barrenness of this place.

When Mellen first entered the Azure Moon Realm, he was only at the first level of Qi Refining. Now, after spending two or three hours cultivating his modified [Wave-Treading Technique], he has successfully reached the ninth level of Qi Refining. However, according to his prediction, it will take several days to break through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.